Malnourished

Chapter 8 The Agent

Argent Tomlinson parked around the corner of the girl's house.  He did not want anyone to notice him approach the house then hopefully enter it.  His clothes were black which allowed him to move through the night almost silently.  The little house was dark except for a lone light in the living room.  He knew the room mate was not home yet and briefly wondered what was going on between the two of them.  He moved around to the back of the dark residence and stepped up on the well maintained porch.  The boards creaked under his weight then he heard it.  Furious barking from what sounds like at least two very large dogs.  "Well I didn't expect this" he muttered then backed off and quickly moved past the house and onto the walk way.  He had moved just a couple of feet away when a tall young man turned the corner and walked past him. "Nice evening tonight isn't it" he was talking to Argent "why yes it is indeed.  You have a good evening sir."  It was her room mate, Greg and it seemed that he had left just in the nick of time.

Greg was late getting home and he was tired, he had a gruelling day at work so he hoped that Devon had come home and taken the pups out for their walk then he didn't need to do it.  He walked in and the dogs started barking and acting stressed out.  "What is the matter with you two?" he asked affectionately and scratched both of them behind their ears.  The two large animals kept running to the back of the house to sniff around then bark at whatever the imagined thing was.  "Easy boys, I'm sure it was probably a big juicey cat!"  and on the C word the dogs became frantic.  Greg laughed and said" well it looks like momma hasn't come home yet which means I will take you for a walk.  What do you think, wanna go for a walk then let's go!"  The two excited pets jumped for joy as he put their favourite leashes on and opened the door.

The evening was gorgeous with a slightly cool breeze.  This made the night perfect for walking and Greg decided to change his mind about being tired.  He was going to take them for an extra long walk tonight.  The dogs walked out in front of him with continuous stops to smell every post and hydrant.  They had walked about a block when he noticed a dark air car with blocked out windows.  However the driver side was down and he could see the person inside.  At first it didn't register until he walked completely past the vehicle that it was the same stranger he passed outside of the house.  The dogs were sniffing his car furiously and gave a low rumble of warning.    The young man urged them forward but now he was wary.  "What was this guy doing in front of the house anyway?" he pondered "there isn't anything on our street but old houses so was he there visiting someone?  If that was the case then why would he park his car way around the corner of the block?"  H.e didn't have the answers but now he was very attentive.  "Come on boys, let's walk to the bus stop and meet you Mom, I'm sure she will be home any minute"  He gave them a little tug then turned around and walked quickly to the stop.

Devon stepped off the bus and was greeted with sloppy wet kisses and prancing around dogs.  She couldn't help it she had to laugh which made her feel so much better then she had on the way home.  "Greg! What a wonderful surprise!  Were you just passing by or is there something wrong?"  when she saw his face then all good feeling disappeard.  "Greg, what is it?  What is wrong?" she pleaded.  "I don't know if this is anything Dev but there is this guy and I think he is watching our house."  Devon froze on the spot "what!? How do you know that and why would someone watch our house?"  she asked a question that she already had the answer to.  "I don't know but I think I should walk you home just in case and if I'm mistaken then we can sit and laugh about it later"  He looked around to see if there was something out of place or the black car was there.  Nothing."I'll tell you about it when we get home okay?" he asked and all Devon could do was nod her head.

They closed the door behind them and Greg ran over to the livingroom window.  He moved the curtain just a fraction so he could look up and down the darkend street.  He was just about to step back and laugh at himself when he saw a slight movement across the street.  He stood completely still and studied the shadows intently.  There it was again!  A slight change in the depth of the shadows, a breath of steam in the damp night air.  There was someone there!

"Greg what is it?  Is there something there?" she waited a few seconds then with what she hoped was a stern voice demanded him to turn around and talk to her.  Greg kept his back to her for just a moment longer but she could see the tightness in his back.  "I'm sorry Dev I was just checking and it turns out I must have imagined what I thought I saw." then he gave a weak man giggle.  Devon did not believe him "Greg you are full of shit!  I know you too well now spill the beans, what the hell happened tonight?"  He walked towards her and without any warning he gave her a hug. "Greg you are scaring me." she cried  "I am so sorry Dev I didn't mean to scare you at all.  It must be because I am so tired.  I've worked late all this week and I think I saw something that was not really there." he gave his silly grin when he is embarrassed.  "Well what is it you thought you saw then?" she was not going to let this go.  So in order to keep things as honest as possible he told her about the stranger in front of the house then in the car.  "Perhaps this guy is into exercise and likes to walk when he visits people." Devon looked at her roomy for an agreement but all Greg did was stare at her in disbelieve.  All of a sudden the two of them broke out into laughter it was the kind of laughter that wouldn't stop.  Tears were pouring down their faces and they were getting quite uncomfortable.  Suddenly the dogs barked which caused them to put their attention elsewhere and the laughter came to an abrupt end.    This kind of laughter was caused by extreme stress and the two of them knew it but it felt good as a release.  They could now relax, have a hot cup of tea  then go through Devon's usual list.  Neither one of them spoke about what had happened and went to bed.

Greg lay in the dark and contemplated what he knew he saw.  He didn't tell Devon about the person across the street because he didn't want to scare her anymore then she obviously was.  He was pretty sure what was going on and it scared the day lights out of him.  The work he had been doing was highly confidential and he had been sneaking papers out of his lab.  He would bring them home to examin them without being watched.  Somehow they figured out what he was doing and now they were watching him.  "How stupid could I have been?" he thought "I've put Devon in terrible danger and it's my fault! What am I going to do?"  He already knew the answer to that as well, he was going to have to tell her then ask her for forgiveness then think of a way to get her out of this.  He drifted off to an restless sleep.

Devon lay in the dark on her bed with Tiberious on the end and Tasselhoff on the floor in his dog bed.  She always felt safe with them in the room with her.  Tonight was different, she was truly afraid.  She knew Greg had lied about seeing anything outside.  She knew him well enough to know when he was lying, someone was out there.  She realized that what she had done was putting not only her Grandmother in danger but him as well.  He was one of her best friends and would never put him in harms way but it seems she did this time.  Now she needed to think of a way to get him out of this mess but the first thing she needed to do was tell him what she has done.  She was awake for most of the night too frightened to get a deep sleep.